MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1707-1947) INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT Alamgir Aurangzeb (1658-1707) Last of the Great Mughal rulers who died in 1707 Later Mughals POLITICAL CONDITION • After the death of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 disintegration of Mughal empire gained sharp momentum • Bahadur Shah emerged victorious among the sons of Aurangzeb for the throne • Was an able ruler. Tried to gain control over the Rajputs by replacing Jai Singh by his younger brother Vijay Singh at Amber. He forced Ajit Singh of Marwar to submit to Mughal authority. • Policy towards Maratha sardars (chiefs) was half hearted reconciliation as Bahadur Shah granted sardeshmukhi of the Deccan but did not grant chauth to them. Therefor the Maratha chiefs were dissatisfied and Decccan was in disorder. • Bahadur Shah made peace with the Sikhs by granting granting high mansab to Guru Gobind Singh (10th Guru).But after the death of Guru Gobind Singh Sikhs again raised the banner of revolt under Banda Bahadur. The revolt was crushed to a minimum by Bahadur Shah himself who captured the strong fort Lohgarh at the foothills of Himalayas for a brief period. • Bahadur made peace with Chhatarsal, the Bundela chief who remained loyal to him and the Jat chief Churaman joined him in his campaign against Banda Bahadur. • Bahadur Shah was about to settle the empire from disarray and further loss but his unfortunate death in 1712 plunged the empire once again into a civil war. • Jahandar Shah succeeded the throne after the death of Bahadur Shah, supported by powerful noble Zulfiqar Khan • He reversed the policies of Aurangzeb, e.g. abolished Jizyah tax • Jai Singh of Amber was given the title Mirza Raja Sawai and appointed governor of Malwa • Zulfiqar Khan made peace with Churaman and Chhattarsal of Bundela • He encouraged the practice of ijarah or revenue farming • In 1713 Farrukhsiyar, defeated Jahandar Shah and succeeded the throne Farrukhsiyar the Mughal emperor, ruled from 1713-1719 issued farman in 1717 granting the British East India Company concessions and exemption from custom duties and right to issue dastaks to trade in Bengal • Saiyid brothers, Abdullah Khan(wazir) and Husain Ali Khan Burhow (mirbakshi), were the ‘king makers’ who helped Farrukhsiyar in his capturing of throne • Farrukhsiyar was killed in 1719 by Saiyid brothers, and Muhammad Shah was made the Emperor of India • Saiyid brothers reached an agreement with King Shahu by granting him the swarajya(of Shivaji) and the right to collect chauth • Nizam ul Mulk and Muhammad Shah killed and overthrew Saiyid brothers • Muhammad Shah was fickle minded and reigned from 1719-1748, but due to lack of confidence on Nizam ul Mulk his wazir, latter moved to south and founded the state of Hyderabad in Deccan in 1724 • In 1739, Nadir Shah, the king of Persia, invaded India and plundered Delhi and took away the Koh i noor diamond, peacock throne of Shahjahan • In Ahmad Shah Abdali, one of the generals of Nadir Shah, in North India from 1748- 1767 defeated the mighty Marathas in the crucial Third battle of Panipat in 1761 • RESULTS • Mughal empire ceased to exist in totality and decimated to the areas around Delhi without control over its provinces • In the provinces many independent states arose, e.g. Hyderabad, Bengal, Awadh, Punjab etc. • Shah Alam II who ascended the throne in 1759, wandered from place to place, joined hands with Shuja ud Daulah of Awadh and Mir Qasim of Bengal and declared war upon East India Company and was defeated in the Battle of Buxar in 1764. He lived as a pensioner of East India Company in Allahabad according to the Treaty of Allahabad in1765 • In 1772, he(Shah Alam II) left the British shelter and returned to Delhi under Maratha protection • Mughal dynasty was came to an end in 1857 when the last emperor Bahadur Shah II ( also Bahadur Shah Jafar) was sent in to exile to Rangoon,Burma after the suppression of the Revolt of 1857 where he died in 1862 at the age of 87 years EXERCISE 1 1. Aurangzeb died in A) 1717 B) 1707 C) 1703 D) 1705 2. Guru Govind Singh was succeeded by A) Guru Angad B) Guru Ram Das Banda Bahadur D) Ranjit Singh 3. Who among the following were known as the ‘king makers’? A) Ali brothers B) Husain C) Khan brothers D) Saiyid brothers brothers 4. Who among the following Mughal rulers joined hands against East India Company in the battle of Buxar in 1764? A) Shah Alam I B) Shah Alam II C) Farrukhsiyar D) Jahandar Shah 5. Nadir Shah plundered Delhi in A) 1761 B) 1739 C) 1768 D) 1745 2. Indian States On the debris of the Mughal Empire and its political system arose a number of independent and semi- independent powers like Bengal, Awadh, Maratha, Hyderabad, Mysore etc. Hyderabad and the Carnatic • Founded by Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah in 1724 Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah • Played a leading role to overthrow the Saiyid brothers in Mughal Empire • Was the viceroy of Deccan for some time and became wazir of the Empire • During emperor Muhammad Shah frustrated with his poor administrative policies founded the independent state of Hyderabad • He followed a tolerant policy towards Hindus, for e.g. Puran Chand, a Hindu was his Dewan • In the Carnatic Nawab Sadatullah Khan was the ruler and he made his nephew Dost Ali as his successor without any approval of Nizam, who was his superior Bengal • Taking advantage of the weak Mughal authority, Murshid Quli Khan made Bengal virtually independent. • Murshid Quli Khan was the man of exceptional quality who was made the Governor of Bengal in 1717, though he was ruler from 1700 • Alivardi Khan, his nephew succeeded him by killing Shuja-uddin Murshid Quli Khan I Shuja-uddin (1727-1739) I Alivardi Khan (1739-1756) I Siraj ud daulah( 1756-1757) • Alivardi Khan reorganised the finances of Bengal by transferring large parts of jagir lands into khalisah lands • He granted agricultural loans (taccavi) to the poor cultivators • Murshid Quli Khan gave equal opportunities to both Hindus and Muslims • Alivardi Khan did not permit English and French to fortify their factories in Calcutta and Chandernagore • Nawabs of Bengal neglected the maintenance of strong army and did not put down the tendency of the colonialists to increase their military strength • Failed to check the growing corruption in the officials • Company’s rule started in India with victory of the English under Robert Clive in the Battle of Plassey with young Nawab Siraj ud-daulah in 1757 Awadh • Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk was the founder of the state. • Appointed Governor of Awadh in 1722 • Carried out a fresh revenue settlement in 1723 but continued with the jagir system • Saadat Khan was succeeded by his nephew Safdar Jung, was also the wazir of the Mughal Empire and granted with the province of Allahabad Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk (1722-1739) I Safdar Jung (1739-1754) • Safdar Jung made alliance with Maratha to save the state from Maratha incursions. • Came into an agreement with Peshwa by which Peshwa was to help the Mughal Empire against Ahmad Shah Abdali and Indian elements like Pathans and Rajput rebels • Adopted the policy of impartiality in the employment of Hindus and Muslim, highest post in his Government was held by a Hindu, Maharaja Nawab Rai • Lucknow became an important city of Awadh and soon rivalled the Delhi in its patronage of arts and literature • Chhota Imambara, Bara Imambara at Lucknow are the examples of architectural splendour. MYSORE • The state was nominally a part of the Mughal Empire • Chikka Krishna Raj was the king • Two ministers Nanjaraj (Sarbadhikari) and Devraj seized power • Haidar Ali born in 1721, started as a petty officer in the Mysore army Haidar Ali • Recognised the advantages of western military training and applied to the troops under his command • In 1755, established a modern arsenal at Dindigul with the help of French troops • 1761 overthrew Nanjaraj and established control over Mysore • Controlled the Poligars (warrior chieftains and zamindars), and conquered the adjoining territories of Bidnur, Sunda, Sera, Canara, and Malabar • Introduced Mughal revenue system in the conquered area • Engaged in war with Nizam of Hyderabad, Maratha sardars and British and repeated defeated the British force, died in 1785 TIPU SULTAN • Succeeded his father Haider Ali in 1785 and continued the Second Anglo-Mysore War. • He was an innovator introduced new calendar, system of coinage, new scales of weights and measures. • Took keen interest in French Revolution (1789), planted a ‘Tree of Liberty’ at Seringapatnam and became a member of Jacobin Club • Made an attempt to reduce the hereditary possessions of the poligars and eliminate the intermediaries between state and the cultivators. • But the revenue was as high as one third of the produce • He also made an effort to build a modern navy, for he established two dockyards • British found Mysore state as “well cultivated, populous with industrious inhabitants, cities newly founded and commerce extending” ANGLO-MYSORE WARS Battle of Seringapatnam,1799 Name of the Year Fought between Consequences war 1st Anglo Mysore 1767-69 Haidar Ali and The Haidar Ali almost captured War British Madras, 2nd Anglo Mysore 1780-84 British and Haidar Treaty of Mangalore War Ali, after his death (1784) was signed between his son Tipu Sultan them and Tipu Sultan made the Commissioner of Madras to go to Mangalore. The treaty was advantageous to Tipu 3rd Anglo Mysore 1790-92 Tipu Sultan and the Defeat of Tipu and surrender War British of half of his territory to the British by the Treaty of Seringapatnam in 1792 4th Anglo Mysore 1799 Tipu and British Tipu Sultan was defeated and War (Battle of under Earl of killed; the kingdom was Serngapatnam) Mornington restored to the Wodeyar Dynasty, with one British Commissioner to advise him.